Oliver Twist Book Review

One of the most popular works of a great novelist, Oliver
Twist is the purest distillation of Charles Dickens's
genius.

Oliver Twist was an unfortunate boy who was born into a
life of poverty and misfortune in a workhouse in 1830s England,
orphaned almost from his first breath by his mother's death in
childbirth and his father's unexplained absence. This poor boy
was a juvenile offender against the poor laws. The poor laws, in
the 1830s England, was a special law that was an act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of
Lord Melbourne that reformed the country's poverty relief system.
It classified poor or dependent people into three major
categories and established a requirement for "residency" before
aid was provided. In effect, the poor laws separated the poor
into two classes: the worthy for example orphans, widows,
handicapped and frail elderly and the unworthy for example
drunkards, shiftless and lazy. Oliver, obviously, was grouped
into the worthies. The parish authority sent him to a workhouse
some three miles off, where twenty or thirty other juvenile
offenders rolled about the floor each day. There Oliverspent the first nine years of his miserable life under
the 'care' of a woman named Mrs. Mann. Oliver was brought up with
little food and few comforts. Around the time of Oliver's ninth
birthday, Mr. Bumble, a parish beadle, removed Oliver from the
baby farm and put him to work picking oakum at the main
workhouse. And that was the beginning of the nightmare for Oliver
Twist.

Moving to the main workhouse was no better. Oliver stayed
in the place forsix months. One day, the
desperately hungry boys decided to draw lots, and the loser had
to ask for another portion of gruel. The task fell to Oliver, who
at the next meal tremblingly came forward, a bowl in hand, and
made his famous request: "Please, sir, I want some
more."

In Oliver's wretched life, he met a lot of people,
including some of the most sinister characters, the master thief
Fagin; the leering Artful Dodger; the murderer Bill Sikes along
with many other sentimental and comical characters. Anyhow,
Oliver had pulled through the hard times. When he was under the
supervision of the master thief Fagin, he was caught by the
police, and taken to court. The victim of the pickpocketing, Mr.
Brownlow, took pity on him and took him into his own home to help
the boy recover from an illness. At last, Bill Sikes died then
Fagin was captured and he was sentenced to death by hanging. And
Oliver lived happily without any more problems with his aunt. The
other boys who worked in the pickpocket business with Fagin had
run away. It was a happy ending. The justice was served and the
good lived happily.

Oliver's life is really miserable and unfair. In the
story, he was accused as a juvenile offender against the "poor-
laws". What is "Poor- laws"? It isthe policies
and practices of aiding the poor current in England. The English
poor laws classified poor and the dependent people into three
major categories and established a requirement for "residency"
before aid was provided. Dependent persons were categorized as:
vagrant, the involuntary unemployed and the helpless. In effect,
the poor laws separated the poor into two classes: the worthy for
example orphans, widows, handicapped and, frail elderly and the
unworthy for example drunkards, shiftless and lazy. The poor laws
also set down the means for dealing with each category of needy
persons and established the parish for example local government
as the responsible agent for administering the law. Parish
officials were given the authority to raise taxes as needed and
use the funds to build and manage almshouses; to supply food and
sustenance in their own homes for the aged and the handicapped
for example blind, crippled; and to purchase materials necessary
to put the able-bodied to work. If vagrants or able-bodied
persons refused to work they could be put in jail.

Back to poor Oliver, his history contains a lot of
laughter, tears, anger

Most remarkable memory in my opinion is when Noah
Claypole insulted Oliver's dead mother, that's was when little
Oliver finally release his rage and tried to strangle Noah, but
ended up being beaten by Noah, Charlotte and Mrs. Sowerberry.
This was so unfair to Oliver, at the same time I really admire
the braveness of Oliver to stand up for his very own
mother.

I think that this story has clearly express the huge gap
between the rich and the poor in England at that time. And I
think the poor are very pitiful. The unfairness in the country at
that time is really repulsive.

Charles Dickens has done a great job on satirize the
system of the society at that time. He attacked English
institutions with a ferocity that has never since been
approached. Yet, he managed to do this without making himself
hated; also, he had used a lot of sarcasm and interesting
adjectives. And that I really admire this writer a lot.

Not only in 1830s England. The problem of discrimination
to the poor still existed nowadays. Lots of rich people still
think that the poor people are lower than them and they often
look down on them. I hope this kind of attitude will disappear
one day and let us live in a fair and harmonious society. In
conclusion, Oliver Twist is a novel of social protest, a morality
tale, and also an interesting detective story that includes
laughter, tears and anger. Through Oliver's story, I hope
everybody will respect each other and live in an impartial,
harmonious and friendly world.